Expo for average Jane

COSTA MESA — Lydia Young walked through the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center Friday morning with her arms full of bags.

The Orange resident had amassed candy, dog food, catalogs, bumper stickers and more, and she hadn’t paid for anything — except for the $8 admission fee at the door.

A housewife and mother, Young was among the first people through the door at the inaugural Orange County Head to Toe Women’s Expo, which kicked off Friday in Building 10 of the fairgrounds and is scheduled to last through Sunday.

At the all-day event, vendors set up booths around the room in hopes of luring female customers, sometimes handing out free samples to pique their interest.

“That was worth the $8 to me,” Young said, holding up a bumper sticker that read, “Put the Phone Down and Drive.” “I can’t wait to wash my car tomorrow and put it on.”

The expo, which organizers Debbie Adelman and Rosemarie Gibson founded in Del Mar four years ago, seeks to be one-stop shopping for the average woman consumer.

Among the vendors who packed the grounds Friday were Mary Kay Cosmetics, the Healthy Gourmet, the Marriott Hotel and plenty of salons, boutiques and beauticians.

Adelman, a San Diego resident, said she and Gibson founded the expo after quitting their advertising jobs at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The two sought to create an event for women like themselves who had precious little time away from their families.

“It’s a few hours you can get away and pamper yourself, maybe learn something on a seminar stage,” Adelman said. “It’s a dream for the busy woman.”

Many of the vendors had followed the expo north from Del Mar, but a few signed up for the first time in Orange County.

Terri Meine, a consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics, said the event gave her a rare opportunity to pitch her supply in public — since Mary Kay consultants mostly worked out of the home.

“I think this is awesome,” said Meine, who had passersby spin a wheel to determine which free product they would receive. “It gives us a chance to show people what we’re about.”

Dirk Kleutgens, an independent musician from Rancho Palos Verdes, staked out a booth at the fairgrounds to sell his acoustic guitar CDs, which featured “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and other standards.

He had set up shop at a women’s expo before, he said, and found an easy market.

“It’s very romantic music, so it definitely works,” he said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Orange County Head to Toe Women’s Expo

WHERE: Orange County Fair and Exposition Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

COST: $8; children 12 and younger free

CALL: (619) 491-0677

For more photos of the event, click here.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.